1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of cleaning solutions, and more specifically, a cleaning solution for records, tape heads, magnetic surfaces, film information discs such as used in connection with computers and the like.
2. Prior Art
The advancements made in today's high fidelity phonograph systems have brought sound reproductions to an extremely high level. However, because such systems are of such quality and accuracy, should the grooves of a typical record contain even minor amounts of dirt, either in the form of particles of dust, smoke, and/or other undesirable materials, the presence of such material can be picked up by the phonograph stylus, magnified, and heard through the speakers. Compounding the problem is the fact that modern records are very susceptible to static electricity which causes dust and dirt to adhere to the surface. Because modern records have highly polished surfaces and for a variety of other reasons are now able to carry much more information, the need to keep the surfaces of such records extremely clean is well recognized in the art.
While the problems caused by dirt in the grooves of phonograph records have been recognized in the industry for some time, the means to effectively remove dirt from the relatively fragile surface of the record has been somewhat elusive. Recently, there has been a proliferation of devices which have attempted to remove the undesirable material from the grooves of the record. In these devices, various cleaning brushes, both with and without cleaning solutions, are used to clean the phonograph record. One such device is marketed under the name "Vac-O-Rec." This device removes dust from the phonograph record by applying a vacuum brush system to the surface thereof. Other record cleaning devices utilize brushes in combination with various cleaning solutions. While all these solutions do tend to clean the surface of the record somewhat, it has been found that such solutions all contain a number of shortcomings. It is believed that there are three basic problems associated with the care and handling of phonograph records, to wit: the cleaning of the record for better sound reproduction; the conditioning of the record such that wear of the stylus on the record grooves is diminished; and the ability to render the surface of the records substantially static-free so as to eliminate the build-up of dust. The prior art cleaning solutions have not been found to be effective as to all three of these problems.
The present invention overcomes the problems associated with prior art cleaning solutions and provides a composition which not only cleans the record surface, but also conditions it and renders it substantially static-free.
Another problem relates to the need to keep magnetic computer discs free from even microscopic particles of dirt. The industry has likewise recognized the need to maintain magnetic discs free from such particles. In the past, complex machinery was used to clean the discs. Such machinery is not believed to be effective in the removal of finely divided particles such as cigarette smoke, microscopic oil particles, oxide deposits and the like. The problem with such particles is that if not removed from the magnetic disc surface, a "head crash" can be caused. This can result not only in a total destruction of the head, but also in the destruction of the magnetic disc and the information contained on it. The prior art has recognized such problems and in addition to using the machines mentioned above, has applied various cleaning solutions to the disc heads as well as to the discs themselves. In a similar fashion, tape heads and magnetic tape are also cleaned especially in a commercial setting so as to remove static electricity, dust, and magnetic debris from the tape and tape heads. While prior art solutions are believed to be somewhat effective, they all suffer a number of shortcomings. For example, some require very long drying periods, some do not sufficiently remove static from the surface, some require special handling and the like.
As to the specific types of similar solutions to that set forth herein, reference is made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,062,794; 4,052,328; 3,509,060 and 3,340,199. These patents disclose various mixtures of trichlorotrifluoroethane and other solvents used for cleaning a wide range of surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,509,060 does disclose a cleaning composition containing an anti-static agent. However, such cleaning composition is different from the cleaning composition of the invention, and is used to clean windows and the like. Other prior art references directed to cleaning compositions are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,092,262; 4,070,299; 4,035,258; and 3,477,952.